Game paddle



Nov. 6, 1962 J. J. TRZESNIEWSKI GAME PADDL E Filed Feb. 8, 1960 m N w m Patented Nov.'6, 1962 3,062,550 GAME PADDLE Joseph J. Trzesniewski, 1711 W. Lincoln Ave., Milwaukee 15, Wis. Filed Feb. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 7,407 Claims. (Cl. 273-96) This invention relates generally to a paddle for striking a projectile to play a variety of games and more particularly to an improved paddle which is provided with an impeller for propelling a projectile into the air so that it may be struck with the paddle by the player during its flight.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved paddle for playing a variety of novel games either indoors or outdoors.

Another object is to provide an improved paddle for playing a variety of games which may be devised by the players by reason of the unique characteristics of the paddle.

Another object is to provide an improved game paddle that supports an impeller for propelling a projectile which is to be struck with the paddle after it has been propelled into the air by the player.

A further object is to provide an improved game paddle that includes a receptacle for retaining a supply of the projectiles that are employed in conjunction with the paddle for playing the desired games so that several projectiles may be carried by the paddle while it is being utilized for striking another projectile that is in play.

A further object is to provide an improved game paddle for striking a projectile, the paddle being of simple and inexpensive construction but possessing versatility insofar as it may be employed for playing a variety of games.

According to this invention the improved game paddle comprises a paddle body in the usual form with its configuration resembling the configuration of the familiar ping pong paddle. However, the paddle of the present invention is further equipped with an impeller on its back face along the handle portion of the paddle. The impeller is actuated by the player for propelling a projectile into the air so that it may be struck with the paddle by the player. A pair of receptacles are also mounted on the back face of the paddle for retaining the projectiles so that a supply is always available and several projectiles may be stored in these receptacles while another projectile is in play. To initiate the game, the player places a projectile in position with respect to the impeller and then actuates the latter to propel the projectile into the air and strikes the projectile with the paddle while it is in the air, usually as it is dropping from the peak of its trajectory. The object of the game may be to hit the projectile toward another player who will attempt to return it, or the projectile may be aimed at a target for the purpose of scoring points. A variety of other types of games may likewise be devised.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention, which will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, may be achieved by means of the apparatus described in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view of the back face of a game paddle incorporating the features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the game paddle depicted in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a projectile that may be employed in conjunction with the paddle.

Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings and specifically to FIG. 1 thereof which illustrates a game paddle incorporating the features of the present invention. As there shown the game paddle comprises a flat body generally identified by the reference numeral and which is formed in the configuration of a paddle to provide a striker portion 11 and a handle portion 12. The striker portion 11 is of semi-circular or oval configuration, the handle portion 12 being formed integrally therewith but being of a substantially narrower width to enable the player to comfortably grasp it.

The paddle may be conveniently employed for striking a projectile 15 which is clearly shown in FIG. 3. The projectile is intended to be placed in flight initially by an impeller which is generally identified by the reference numeral 16. The impeller 16 comprises a flexible tube 20 which is secured to the back face of the handle 12 by a flexible strap 21 that is cemented to the periphery of the tube 20 and is secured to the handle 12 at both ends by a pair of screws 22. The tube 20 is fabricated of a flexible and resilient material, such as a rather heavy rubber or the numerous resilient plastics which are presently available and possess the required characteristics.

The rightward end of the tube 20 as viewed in FIG. 1 is closed while the opposite end is provided with a nozzle 25 that is formed integrally with the tube 20 and is inclined away from the flat body 10. The nozzle 25 is provided with a reduced diameter portion 26 which defines a concentric opening 27 that communicates with the interior of the tube 20 through the nozzle 25. The reduced diameter portion 26 cooperates with the inner diameter of an opening 28 provided in the projectile 15. The reduced diameter portion 26 is of the same diameter or a slightly larger diameter than the inner diameter of the projectile 15, depending upon the flexibility of the material of which the projectile is formed.

In order to place a projectile 15 in flight, its opening 28 is forced onto the reduced diameter portion 26 of the nozzle 25. The end of the reduced diameter portion 26 is provided with an annular taper 29 for facilitating the placement of the projectiles 15 thereon so that the diameter of the opening 28 of the projectile may be conveniently expanded as it is forced onto the reduced diameter portion 26. In this manner the open end 28 of the projectile 15 is placed in tight sealed engagement with the reduced diameter portion 26 of the nozzle 25 and an appreciable force is required to remove it therefrom.

With the projectile 15 thus in position on the open end of the nozzle 25 it is ready for the player to place the projectile in play. To do this the player grasps the handle 12 with his hand in position to compress the tube 20. Since the strap 21 is likewise fabricated of flexible material it will readily yield with the tube 20 to the force applied by the hand of the player. As the player compresses the tube 20 a pressure is developed within the interior of the tube. The player will continue to compress the tube 20 until a sufficient pressure is developed to force the projectile 15 off of the end of the nozzle 25 and release its tight engagement with the reduced diameter portion 26 of the nozzle 25. While this is being done, of course, the player is aiming the nozzle 25 in the direction in which he desires the projectile 15 to be propelled which will normally be in a directly upward direction so that he may strike the projectile as it is dropping in its flight. Since a considerable amount of pressure is required to release the projectile 15 from the end of the tube 20, when release does occur the projectile 15 will be propelled with considerable force so that it will travel an appreciable distance and in view of the fact that the nozzle 25 is inclined away from the flat body 10 the projectile will be impelled in a direction away from the body 10 to clear its back surface. The closed end of the projectile 15 is provided with an extra thickness of material to add weight to this end so that when the projectile 15 is traveling, the closed end will always be leading.

In order to have a supply of projectiles 15 always available, a pair of receptacles 30 are secured to the back face of the paddle for retaining the projectiles 15 while the paddle is in use. One receptacle 30 is disposed on each side of the striker portion 11 and each will hold a plurality of the projectiles 15 with the several projectiles being partially nested in the receptacle to reduce the amount of occupied space. Each of the receptacles is provided with a pair of lugs 31 which may be formed integrally with the receptacles 30 for receiving screws 32 to secure the receptacles to the back face of the paddle. The receptacles 30 are likewise formed of a flexible and resilient material and are provided with a central bore 35 which is of sufiicient diameter to freely receive the projectiles 15.

The projectiles 15 are retained within the receptacles 30 by a pair of inwardly extending protrusions 38 that are formed integrally with the receptacles 30 and extend inwardly into the bore 35. The protrusions 38 cooperate with an outwardly extending ring 40 formed to encircle the outer diameter of each of the projectiles 15 and to extend outwardly therefrom. The space between each pair of protrusions 38 is sufficient to allow the body of the projectiles 15 to pass but is small enough to interfere with the passage of the rings 40 into the bore 35. However it is only necessary to apply a slight axial pressure on the projectiles 15 to cause the receptacles 30 to distort and thereby expand the space between the protrusions 38 to permit the projectiles 15 and their associated rings 44) to pass through the protrusions 38 into the bores 35 of the receptacles 30.

Although the protrusions 38 may be readily separated to admit the projectiles 15 into the bores 35 of the receptacles 30 the use of the paddle in play will not produce a force to cause such separation of the protrusions 38 and they will therefore effectively retain the projectiles in the receptacles while the paddle is in use. It should be noted that the forward stroke of the paddle, when striking a projectile, is in a direction to force the projectiles toward the closed end of the receptacles and normally there would not be any rapid movement of the paddle in a direction to dislodge the projectiles from the receptacles. As a result there is no force developed to separate the protrusions 38 while the paddle is in play. However, in order to remove the projectiles from the receptacles 30 it is only necessary for the player to grasp the projectiles in the receptacles 30 and draw them rearwardly to separate the protrusions 38 and pass the projectiles 15 out of the receptacles 30. In order to facilitate the grasping of the projectiles 15, each of the receptacles 30 is provided with a pair of oppositely disposed side openings 36 extending along the length of the receptacles. The player may therefore insert his fingers through these openings to gain access to the projectiles 15 contained in the receptacles 31).

To initiate the playing of a game, the player will remove one of the projectiles 15 from either of the receptacles 30 and place it on the nozzle 25 with the inner diameter of the opening 28 of the projectile 15 in tight engagement with the cooperating reduced diameter portion 26 of the nozzle 25. After the projectile has thus been positioned on the end of the nozzle 25, the player grasps the handle 12 as well as the tube 20 with his hand. He then aims the nozzle 25 in the direction in which he desires the projectile to be propelled and compresses the tube 20. When suflicient pressure has been developed within the tube it forces the projectile 15 off of the end of the nozzle 25 and propels it into the desired pattern of flight. While the projectile is in the air, the player strikes it with a front face 37 of the striker portion 11 to again propel the projectile 15 either to another player who will return it or toward a suitable target for the purpose of scoring points. In this manner the paddle of the present invention may be employed for playing a variety of games which involve the skill of accurately striking the projectile 15 while it is in flight to propel it in a desired direction and such games may be played either indoors or outdoors.

From the foregoing detailed description of the construction and operation of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, it will become apparent that a 4 new and improved game paddle has been provided which includes an impeller for placing a projectile in flight to enable the player to strike the projectile with the paddle while the projectile is in flight to propel it in another direction.

Although the illustrative embodiment of the present 1nvention has been described in considerable detail for the purpose of making a full disclosure of a practical operative arrangement by means of which the invention may be practised, it is to be understood that various novel features of the invention may be incorporated in other arrangements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the subjoined claims.

The principles of the invention having now been fully explained in connection with the foregoing description of embodying structure, I hereby claim as my invention:

1. In a game paddle for striking a projectile to propel it; a fiat rigid paddle body presenting a back face and a front face and having a handle portion which may be grasped by a hand of the player; a plurality of receptacles secured to the back face of said paddle body for receiving and storing projectiles that are to be employed with the paddle; a tube fabricated of a resilient material secured to the back face of said paddle body along said handle portion, said tube having one end closed and its opposite end open; and an annular projectile receiving surface formed about the open end of said tube for receiving a projectile so that the projectile seals the open end of the tube; whereby the player may compress the tube to develop pressure therein for forcing a projectile off of said annular surface to propel the projectile into flight and then strike the projectile during its flight with the front face of said paddle body to propel it in another direction for playing the game.

2. In a game paddle or striking a projectile to propel it; a flat rigid paddle body presenting a back face and a front face and having a handle portion which may be grasped by a hand of the player; a tube fabricated of a resilient material secured to the back face of said paddle body along said handle portion, said tube having one end closed and its opposite end open; and projectile receiving means formed about the open end of said tube for receiving a projectile so that the projectile seals the open end of said tube; whereby the player may compress the tube to develop pressure therein for forcing a projectile off of said receiving means to propel the projectile into flight and then strike the projectile during its flight with the front face of said paddle body to propel it in another direction for playing the game.

3. In a game paddle for striking a projectile to propel it; a flat rigid striker portion presenting a back face and a front face with the latter being adapted for striking a projectile; a flat handle portion contiguous with said striker portion but of narrower width so that it may be conveniently grasped by the hand of the player, said handle portion having a front face and a back face that present surfaces which are continuous with the surfaces of the front face and the back face respectively of said striker portion; and an impeller mounted on the back face of said handle, said impeller being adapted to receive an individual projectile to carry the projectile at the back face of the handle and being actuatable by the hand of the player to propel the projectile contained therein into the air; whereby the player may actuate said impeller to propel a projectile into the air and then strike the projectile with the front face of said striker portion to propel it in another direction for playing the game.

4. In a game paddle for striking a projectile to propel it; a flat rigid paddle body presenting a back face and a front face; a plurality of receptacles secured to the back face of said paddle body for receiving and storing projectiles that are to be utilized with the paddle while the paddle is in use; and an impeller mounted on the back face of said paddle body, said impeller being adapted to receive an individual projectile to carry the projectile at 5 the back face of said paddle body and being actuatable by the hand of the player to propel the projectile contained therein into the air; whereby the player may actuate said impeler to propel a projectile into the air and then strike the projectile with the front face of said paddle body to propel it in another direction for playing the game.

5. In a game paddle for striking a projectile to propel it; a fiat rigid paddle body presenting a back face and a front face; and an impeller mounted on the back face of said paddle body, said impeller being adapted to receive an individual projectile to carry the projectile at the back face of said paddle body and being actuatable by the hand of the player grasping said paddle body to propel the projectile contained therein into the air; whereby the player may actuate said impeller to propel a projectile into the 15 6 air and then strike the projectile with the front face of said paddle body to propel it in another direction for playing the game.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,622,880 Walsh Dec. 23, 1952 2,853,991 McLain Sept. 30, 1958 10 2,932,514 Bergmark Apr. 12, 1960 2,935,322 Almoslino May 3, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 346,559 France Dec. 1, 1904- 647,232 Germany June 30, #1937 

